Newly-released court documents show Quincy District Court Judge Mark Coven questioned former Braintree Police Chief John Polio about his claim that he played no role in Amy Bishop’s release after she fatally shot her teenage brother in 1986.

By Lane Lambert

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Lane Lambert

Posted Feb. 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 26, 2013 at 1:54 AM

By Lane Lambert

Posted Feb. 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 26, 2013 at 1:54 AM

BRAINTREE

» Social News

Newly-released court documents show Quincy District Court Judge Mark Coven questioned former Braintree Police Chief John Polio about his claim that he played no role in Amy Bishop’s release after she fatally shot her teenage brother in 1986.

The exchange between the judge and the now-deceased Polio is part of the complete, unredacted transcript of the 2010 inquest Coven held for the Seth Bishop shooting. The Patriot Ledger obtained the full transcript Monday from Norfolk County Superior Court.

In direct questioning of the late chief, Coven asked, “And if I were to tell you that there’s evidence from more than one witness that said that Chief Polio instructed them to release Amy Bishop to her mother?”

“Untrue,” Polio answered.

That exchange came after Coven questioned Polio about his lack of follow-up questions to a Braintree police captain about “the unexplained shooting” of Seth Bishop. When asked about reports that Braintree police didn’t later respond to repeated State Police requests for reports on the shooting, Polio responded, “That’s a lie.”

Polio died at 87 in December 2010, eight months after the inquest was held and six months after a Norfolk County grand jury indicted Amy Bishop on a murder charge in her brother’s death.

The Seth Bishop shooting was thrust back in the spotlight in February 2010, when Braintree native Amy Bishop was charged with killing three colleagues and wounding three others during a biology department meeting on the University of Alabama in Huntsville campus.

Bishop, who’s now 48, pleaded guilty to the three capital murders last year and is serving a life-without-parole sentence in the Alabama women’s prison.

After Bishop’s plea, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said he wouldn’t prosecute her for Seth Bishop’s death.

Amy Bishop fatally shot Seth in their family home with a pump-action shotgun. She was taken to the police station for questioning, but was released when her mother, Judy Bishop, came to the station.

Braintree officers testified at the inquest that Polio instructed them to release Bishop without charging her, but Polio always disputed that. Seth Bishop’s shooting was ruled accidental at the time.